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We've improved Slashdot's video section; now you can view our video interviews, product close-ups and site visits with all the usual Slashdot options to comment, share, etc. No more walled garden! It's a work in progress -- we hope you'll check it out (Learn more about the recent updates).

mikael (484) writes "Sciencedaily.com is reporting that scientists have discovered how DNA is folded within the nucleus of a cell such that active genes remain accessible without becoming tangled. The first observation is that genes are actually stored in two locations. The first location acts as a cache where all active genes are kept. The second location is a more denser storage area where inactive genes are kept. The second observation is that all genes are stored as http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2009/3d-genome.html ">fractal globules which allows genes that are used together to be adjacent to each other when folded, even though they may be far apart when unfolded."Link to Original Source

Ch_Omega (532549) writes "According to this article, Mark Roth, a biologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, has been able to put fish embryos, fruit flies and even mice in what can be described as a form of suspended animation. From the article:

"The air we breathe is 21 percent oxygen. At 5 percent, (...) fish and flies — like us — would be dead in a few minutes. At 0.1 percent, it [is] another story. "You get a state of suspended animation and the creatures do not pass away, and that's the basis of what we see as an alternative way to think about critical care medicine," Roth says. "What you want to do is to have the patient's time slowed down, while everyone around them [like doctors] move at what we would call real time. (...) While it's true we need oxygen to live, it's also a toxin. (...) Scientists are starting to understand that death isn't caused by oxygen deprivation itself, but by a chain of damaging chemical reactions that are triggered by sharply dropping oxygen levels. The thing is, those reactions require the presence of some oxygen. Hydrogen sulfide takes the place of oxygen, preventing those reactions from taking place. No chain reaction, no cell death. The patient lives.""Link to Original Source

coondoggie (973519) writes "While NASA may be focused on keeping its manned space flight plans intact, apparently it has seriously neglected the security of its networks.

Watchdogs at the Government Accountability Office issued a 53-page report pretty much ripping the space agency's network security strategy stating that NASA has significant problems protecting the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the information and variety of networks supporting its mission centers.Specifically, NASA did not consistently implement effective controls to prevent, limit, and detect unauthorized access to its networks and systems. The GAO said NASA did not identify and authenticate users; restrict user access to systems; encrypt network services and data; protect network boundaries; and t and monitor computer-related events. The GAO said NASA networks and systems have been successfully targeted by cyber attacks 1,120 times in the past two years. All of this despite the fact that the agency's IT budget in fiscal year 2009 was $1.6 billion, of which $15 million was dedicated to IT security, the GAO stated.[spam URL stripped]"

vipul1968 (1630529) writes "A recent NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image captures what appears to be one very bright and bizarre galaxy, but is actually the result of a pair of spiral galaxies that resemble our own Milky Way smashing together at breakneck speeds. The product of this dramatic collision, called NGC 2623, or Arp 243, is about 250 million light-years away in the constellation of Cancer (the Crab)."Link to Original Source

Barence writes "Microsoft is planning to make Windows 8 a 128-bit operating system, according to details leaked from the software giant's Research department. The discovery came to light after Microsoft Research employee Robert Morgan carelessly left details of his work on the social-networking site LinkedIn. His page read: 'Working in high-security department for research and development involving strategic planning for medium and long-term projects. Research & Development projects including 128-bit architecture compatibility with the Windows 8 kernel and Windows 9 project plan. Forming relationships with major partners: Intel, AMD, HP and IBM.' It has since been removed."

From the article, "NASA will throw a one-two punch at the big old moon Friday and the whole world will have ringside seats for the lunar dust-up.

NASA will send a used-up spacecraft slamming into the moon's south pole to kick up a massive plume of lunar dirt and then scour it to see if there's any water or ice spraying up. The idea is to confirm the theory that water â" a key resource if people are going to go back to the moon â" is hidden below the barren moonscape.""Link to Original Source

One way to get rid of many of the advertisements is to watch it on Hulu. Granted you have to wait before episoded become available and the entire season of a given show isn't always available, but in general it's a lot better than sitting through lots of useless advertisements.

coondoggie (973519) writes "In its ongoing effort to tighten the security around military networks, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency today gave Lockheed Martin $31 million to work on its advanced network project.

That project, known as the Military Network Protocol looks to develop an authenticated and attributable identification system for packet based, military and government data networks, the agency said. Military or government data sent with the MNP will be compatible with normal Internet equipment to allow MNP traffic to pass through legacy network or encryption equipment, DARPA said.

Not only should the prioritization scheme be radically advanced, the system should be extremely difficult to spoof or inject false traffic into, DARPA said.

CWmike writes "A two-day Distracted Driving Summit in Washington concluded Thursday, after experts raised multiple thorny questions on how to reduce cell phone and texting while driving, with a big emphasis placed on driver and employer responsibility. But that was not before President Obama signed an executive order that tells all federal employees not to engage in texting while driving government vehicles. LaHood also announced that his department would ban text messaging altogether and restrict cell phone use by truck and interstate bus drivers, and disqualify school bus drivers from receiving commercial driver's licenses if they have been convicted of texting while driving. His department also plans to make permanent some restrictions placed on the use of cell phones in rail operations, he added without offering further details. The executive order "shows the federal government is leading by example" and "sends a signal that distracted driving dangerous," LaHood said."Link to Original Source

An anonymous reader writes "My daughter started kindergarten this year and is well ahead of her peers. She can read while the rest of them are working on the sounds of letters. She has the addition table memorized through 10's, while most of them are working on counting to 20, etc. My wife is a certified teacher but staying at home with her, which is why she's ahead of her peers. My wife's concerned that if she continues to stay ahead, she'll get bored, be a discipline problem and drop out (like I did), so I suggested that we teach her something that won't be covered in school. What, besides art, music and a foreign language would you suggest, and why?"

coondoggie writes "The Department of Homeland Security is looking to hire 1,000 cybersecurity professionals in the next three years, according to the agency's secretary Janet Napolitano. The department now has the authority to recruit and hire cybersecurity professionals across DHS over the next three years in order to help fulfill the Department's mission to protect the nation's cyber infrastructure, systems and networks, she said. "This new hiring authority will enable DHS to recruit the best cyber analysts, developers and engineers in the world to serve their country by leading the nation's defenses against cyber threats," Napolitano stated. DHS his the focal point for the security of cyberspace — including analysis, warning, information sharing, vulnerability reduction, mitigation, and recovery efforts for public and private critical infrastructure information systems.